A restraining order preventing SpamCop from complaining about oft-accused spammer OptInRealBig.com, was lifted just one day after being issued.
The temporary order came down May 10 and was lifted by U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong the next day.
SpamCop owner IronPort was pleased the order was dissolved.
"IronPort is deeply committed to the fight against spam," said senior marketing vice president Tom Gillis in a statement. "Whether that means technically or legally or financially, we continue to persevere. And we don't think the fight is over.
"It's IronPort's business to protect our customers' networks," he continued. "And if you're in the business of sending unwanted or dangerous content to my customers' networks, that's probably not a good business."
Armstrong also moved up a hearing on OptInRealBig.com's lawsuit against SpamCop to May 18. OptInRealBig.com sued SpamCop in April, accusing the anti-spam programmers of interfering with contracts and business relationships and obstructing its ability to make money.
SpamCop tips Internet service providers' abuse desks whenever its clients and users report spam, and the e-mail addresses of the complainants are usually withheld.
OptInRealBig.com owner Scott Richter was sued in December by New York State and by Microsoft, which accuses him of sending "billions" of unwanted and possibly illegal spam messages into the Empire State.
Richter is considered one of cyberspace's worst spammers by anti-spam group Spamhaus.org, which lists him as the number two culprit for his Wholesalebandwidth operation behind Alan Ralsky, andnumber nine on the group's top ten for OptInRealBig.com, behind Webfinity/Dynamic Pipe but ahead of Eddy Marin – who has also tried the litigation route in order to keep spamming.
